Airport security officers in Alabama recently found something a lot older than your average seized items: five Civil War-era cannonballs packed in a checked suitcase. TSA officials at Gulf Shores International Airport say a routine luggage scan revealed two grapefruit-size balls and three smaller rusted spheres so dense the machine couldn't see through them, prompting initial fears they might still be live, the New York Times reports.
- "My first thought was, 'I couldn't see a fuse and need to get some help quick,' TSA Officer Justin Dupree said in a news release. "I couldn't see the entire item but was scared I might have been holding a live explosive."
After determining they posed no explosive threat, deputies questioned a woman and a boy traveling with her. They surrendered the items and continued on to Oklahoma City without charges. Investigators later linked the relics to nearby Fort Morgan, and the munitions have since been returned there. The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that the boy stole the cannonballs from the fort and placed them in his grandmother's bag, the AP reports. The woman said she didn't know they were stolen and authorities at the site, which is operated by the Alabama Historical Commission, declined to press charges, the sheriff's office said.
"I had never seen anything quite this unique," said Dupree, who has been with the agency for four years. "I've seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation." The TSA said that while the cannonballs didn't contain any explosive materials, artillery munitions of any kind are banned on planes. "Even if inert and not active, travelers should avoid bringing weapons of any kind, including replicas, to the airport," said Tara Corse, the agency's federal security director for Alabama. "They can cause security alerts, flight delays, and safety concerns."
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